Getaway to Greece - Advice Needed (Athens, Mykonos, Santorini)

[yflyer]

August 2017 is now approaching its final days, the locals who live and work in the Athens area (centre and suburbs, incl. Piraeus) are gradually returning back from their summer holidays. So by the time the clock hits September 1st more or less all of them will have been back to their positions and the city of Athens will be much more busy than today.

Ah...so Athens is like Rome, which seems to empty out completely in the summer months.

Will heed the advice on helmets and road safety if we do rent a scooter on the islands. I am personally not too keen (Seen too many car cam videos of motorcycle accidents), but maybe if the traffic is very light, I might consider it.

We have decided to take the ferry from Athens / Piraeus to Mykonos. The ferry leaves at 7.30am. Any idea how early we need to be at the port? Should we risk collecting the tickets (Pre-booked online) on the morning itself, or should we pick them up the day before?

[N_Architect]

You can be at the ferry port gate even as late as at (say) 07:20.
Since the tickets are pre-booked online then I would imagine they will be with the ferry staff down at the entrance/embarkation gate. Best if you could check that yourselves or via the hotel concierge once you arrive in ATH.

[yflyer]

You can be at the ferry port gate even as late as at (say) 07:20.
Since the tickets are pre-booked online then I would imagine they will be with the ferry staff down at the entrance/embarkation gate. Best if you could check that yourselves or via the hotel concierge once you arrive in ATH.

Thanks N_Architect! I checked with the hotel concierge and they said we could pick up the tickets on the day itself, ideally up to 40 min before the ferry departs.

Thansk for all the advice! We are looking forward to our trip!

[MAN Flyer]

I am little biased in this as we deal with a few of them, and clearly somewhat late to the discussion..., but I would definitely recommend taking the Fast Ferries / HSC's to the islands from Piraeus. Avoiding the airport on Santorini alone is worth it.

[yflyer]

I would definitely recommend taking the Fast Ferries / HSC's to the islands from Piraeus. Avoiding the airport on Santorini alone is worth it.

Thanks for the advice, MAN Flyer! Having experienced Santorini Airport when we returned to Athens, I would agree that JTR does not make the best impression -- it is way too small for the amount of traffic it gets! All that said, it was nice to be back in Athens so quickly, after a very short flight. I would not want to arrive in Santorini by plane, though, getting there by ferry is very pleasant and scenic!

clearly somewhat late to the discussion...

We had a great trip, with the TR done and posted! But never too late for more travel advice...a lot more to Greece that we didn't see this time round!

[sydunipete]

I travelled to these locations this year. Each island has it's own personality and you can get lucky / or unlucky depending on the number of cruise boats visiting at the time you are there.

Mykonos is the most tourist island. If you like Capri you will probably like Mykonos. It's over priced and the town is a long way from decent beaches (unless you like nightclub themed beaches with boom boom music). Expect to pay more money for less quality food or you can go super indulgent and rub shoulders with the rich and famous.

Santorini is a little better. Fira the main town is also visited by cruise boats. It's built high on a cliff face and looks West giving great sunsets. Fira is touristy but the restaurants have great views. A short ride will take you to the East of the island which is more relaxed. Plenty of cheap and good food and good swimming beaches. Buses work well or your can hire a car or quad bike. We stayed mostly on the quieter beach side for a few nights then just a night or two in Fira. This worked well for us.

We loved Naxos. It was more natural and less touristy. Beaches were amazingly good. Costs were way down and we loved the more relaxed pace. We will definitely return there.

A tip with Athens. Apart from taxis etc you can get from the airport to town on the metro or the X95 bus. Both take about an hour. Unfortunately the train is well known for pickpockets especially as you get closer to the downtown stations such as Syntagma. We found the bus much better - and this was backed by the views of locals. Much less pick pocket problems (and it's cheaper).

[KeithMEL]

Decided to re-post in the TR forum of our time around the Greek Isles (Milos, Santorini, Mykonos, Paros, plus Athens). http://www.sqtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16628